Cebuana marathoner Mary Joy Tabal hopes to launch her Olympic bid from the Land of the Rising Sun.
Tabal hit the track as soon as she arrived in Japan, going on a morning run together with the coaches of Nippon Sports Science University (NSSU) in the City of Yokohama Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Guba-native returned to NSSU where she trained for the Rio qualifiers last month with former Olympian Akio Usami.
“I started my training this morning and we will have another session in the afternoon,” Tabal told Sun.Star Cebu.
Tabal is the first Filipina marathoner to qualify in the Olympics. She got the mark after clocking 2 hours 43 minutes and 31 seconds in ScotiaBank Ottawa Marathon last month.
The Olympic qualifying time for women’s marathon is 2:45.